Rogers Healy ~ REALTOR to the stars
by Kyle Malnati

How do you pin down a fast moving target? Specifically, how do you set an appointment with someone with this type of reputation? Britney Spears wears HIS company t-shirt. HE works with countless NFL stars, specifically Pro Bowlers Tony Romo and LaDainian Tomlinson. HE has been on Fox News multiple times. HE is friends with Jessica Simpson.

As a dedicated Realtor and an aspiring author, I’ve spent the last year traveling all over the United States to connect, network, and brainstorm with rising stars in my industry for my upcoming book. Obviously it makes the most sense to learn from the best in any field, but this objective can be a bit daunting when you consider for a moment the vast number of Realtors out there. The National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) is America’s largest trade association, representing over 1.1 million members! How do you even start to choose who to talk to?

Each May since the year 2000, REALTOR® Magazine features an elite group of just 30 of its members that are under 30-years of age. Approximately 600+ real estate practitioners apply every year to be one of the 30 honorees which means that the odds of making the final group is typically less than 5%. This is a desired distinction that attracts an impressive group, and Rogers Healy fits right into the group.

When you meet Rogers Healy for the first time, he just has “the look” of someone famous. His tall and athletic build makes you wonder if he’s a receiver in the NFL, a pitcher in the MLB, or maybe he’s a celebrity. The ironic thing is that although he may look the part… you won’t find him on the cover of People, US Weekly, or Sports Illustrated. He isn’t technically a celebrity. However, his list of real estate clients featured on his website includes a lot of celebrities. Not only has Dallas Cowboys QB Tony Romo worked with Rogers, but multi-platinum recording artist, Britney Spears, was photographed in People Magazine wearing a “Rogers Healy is my Realtor” t-shirt around Los Angeles a few years ago.

As you might imagine, keeping pace with real estate agent to the stars, Rogers Healy, is a little bit like trying to hit a fastball thrown by a major league pitcher. You better bring your A-game otherwise you’ll strike-out trying to set an appointment. I found myself traveling to Rogers’ hometown, Dallas, for a last minute writing opportunity earlier this year and thought that I should try to reconnect with him while I was there. I originally met Rogers Healy for the first time during a “30 Under 30” alumni reunion in 2015; we are both past honorees (2009 and 2012 respectively).

Even though I’ve met him before, I anxiously sent Rogers a message a few days prior to my trip hoping that: 1) he would be in town and 2) he would be willing/available to meet. Since I had only found out about my trip a few days prior, I wasn’t sure how to elegantly navigate my last minute request without sounding like a major procrastinor. I thought to myself, “better just get to the point, tell the truth, and ask him directly.”

Here’s how our conversation went:

Me: I have a last minute trip to Dallas that came up this week. I’ll be there on Monday and Tuesday. Would you be available for dinner either night?

Rogers: Yea bud. You’re welcome to stay at my house if it helps.

Me: Thanks for the offer, but I’m going to a conference that has a hotel block. Would Monday night or Tuesday night work better for you?

Rogers: Dinner is tough for me. Let’s touch base tomorrow.

Thinking to myself as I crafted the next message…. DANGIT!!! I thought that I blew the opportunity! Should I have just stayed at his house like he offered? Just kidding. Although, I thought that was really cool that he offered that so openly. Fearing that my window was closing since dinner wasn’t an option and my conference was during the entire day, I went for an earlier appointment.

Me: I could always meet you for coffee, breakfast, or crossfit — I heard you like crossfit.

You see what I remembered from my first meeting with Rogers was that he presented an informal talk on authenticity… being true to yourself. During his speech, Rogers mentioned that he tries not to take himself too seriously. His humor tends to disarm people and makes his celebrity clients feel at ease when they are normally guarded. He specifically mentioned that he often introduces himself by saying something like, “hi, I’m Rogers, and I like to do crossfit.” My reference back to him worked perfectly and the meeting was a go.

Rogers: Crossfit. Boom.

Me: Love it! I’ll hit you up mañana like you suggested. Have a great Sunday!

Rogers: Crossfit is at 6:30 AM. 12 minutes from your hotel.

What’s especially ironic about my plan to work out with Rogers in a crossfit class is that I’ve NEVER actually done crossfit before. I actually expected that he would say yes to one of my other invitations: coffee or breakfast. I played sports my whole life, so I figured that crossfit couldn’t be that difficult. I was dead wrong. Crossfit is a killer workout. I made it through about 20 minutes of the workout before I thankfully had to make it back to my hotel room to get ready for the conference I was attending. Rogers was appreciative that I made the trip to his neighborhood to hang out with him in his element, and he agreed to be interviewed later that week for the book.

Now that I’ve had the opportunity to spend 15 minutes picking his brain, I would love to share a few of my takeaways from my interview with Rogers Healy:

1. Rogers isn’t afraid of making mistakes and you shouldn’t be either. He’s always been a big fan of “hedging” to use a term from finance. Like a scientist, he will continue run experiments in his business by trying different things to see what delivers the best results.
2. Rogers surrounds himself with “Truth Tellers.” I capitalized the term, because I could tell by speaking with Rogers that he holds a high regard for these individuals on his real estate team. His Truth Tellers hold him accountable. With as much success as Rogers has experienced, he has learned that he needs people in his company that are bold enough to tell the “Emperor that he has no clothes on.”
3. Rogers is driven. “If I’m in charge then I get to decide if I win.” I love that mentality. I want the basketball when the final seconds are counting down before the end of the game. I want to control my destiny.
4. However driven Rogers might be, at his core, Rogers is really humble. He gives the credit to his team when they win. “When an actor wins an Academy Award, they thank God, family, their director, and their supporting cast.”
5. His core value is running a faith based company. “I’m a Christian man, and I want people to see that without having me tell/show them.”

It turns out that Rogers Healy and I have a lot more in common than I ever expected. Of all the things that we do have in common… one of our major differences, as evidenced by the photo below, is our height.

Kyle Malnati and Rogers Healy at crossfit

As I completed my research for this article, I looked at his profile on Twitter. Twitter is an interesting medium in that you’re forced to be brief… something that I need to work on. All content on Twitter is restricted to just 140 characters. As almost all of us on Twitter do, he describes what’s important to him. Real estate agents are famous for listing all of the awards, destinations, and accolades. Rogers has his fair share of elite awards to promote. However, Rogers leads with a title that millions possess, but few publicly display… “Christian.”

At the end of his Twitter profile, he also displays a reference to a Bible chapter and verse that I had read before, but didn’t have committed to memory. As a fellow Christian, I got really excited. I wanted to see which verse speaks to him.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” ~Philippians 4:6